Saturday, December 29, 2012

The new, revised edition of Freemasons For Dummies hits stores and Amazon.com on Monday, January 29th, 2013. If yours is dog-eared and worn, or has been absconded by a well intentioned brother who fully intended to return it to you, here's a chance to score a new copy, complete with a spiffy new cover, which I took at the Grand Lodge of Washington, D.C.'s headquarters several years ago.
Thanks to everyone who has made the book a hit, almost from the start.

Please make all reservations through the Masonic Week 2013 Website at http://yorkrite.org/MasonicWeek

PLEASE NOTE:The Masonic Society will not have tickets for sale.All tickets MUST be purchased in advance from the Masonic Week organizers.Tickets will NOT be available at the door.RESERVATIONS MUST BE MADE AND CHECKS RECEIVED BY THE MASONIC WEEK STAFF BY JANUARY 31, 2013.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

British-born Australian Nick Jacobs, 41, is an example of the new breed of Freemasons helping to grow the membership. He said: “It definitely has an attraction to expats as you get to meet up with people in a strange city and very quickly they are like brothers to you. And these are people you wouldn’t normally be friends with as they are outside the expat community.”

He added: “There are many older gentlemen who are active Freemasons in Singapore but we are finding that we are also attracting a much younger demographic of expats and locals.”

Freemasons in Asia regularly take part in social activities such as inter-lodge paintballing sessions and pub quizzes.

Singapore has eight English lodges and is part of a district that includes Malaysia and Thailand. Many countries in Asia are seeing a spike in popularity for the Freemasons, especially those nations with colonial roots and established lodges.

Dennis Heath, a British expat and Freemason in Singapore, added: “We see a lot of expats passing through Singapore who want to come to the lodge where they know they will be welcomed warmly. We also have expats who were previously part of a lodge back in the UK, along with those joining for the first time. The traditions and history of the Freemasons has a strong appeal in the fast-paced, digital world we live in.”

Saturday, December 08, 2012

According to the Romanian Masonic Press Agency, Jean-Pierre Servel, the new Grand Master of Grande Loge Nationale Française decided on December 4, 2012, to suspend Past Grand Master François Stifani.

Stifani was suspended for unethical Masonic conduct, violation of fundamental rules, attempt against the Fundamental Principles of the Craft and attempting against the image and proper functioning of the French National Grand Lodge.According to this decree, Stifani is forbidden to attend GLNF's Lodge meetings, the Annual Communication and Board of General Purposes. After years of internal struggle, Stifani is temporarily removed from GLNF, which may indicate that Servel wants to show to the United Grand Lodge of England that GLNF can have once again credibility.

Wednesday, December 05, 2012

James E. Sullivan, Grand Master of New York, has lifted the suspension of Past Grand Master Neal Bidnick (2006-2008) and restored to hime the full rights and privileges of a Master Mason. He has found that Bidnick did not commit an act of "moral turpitude" or "scandal or degradation of the fraternity in the public eye." Further, he says that "no larceny or misappropriation of funds occurred and in fact the notice announcing those findings, sent out by the Grand Secretary's office in April 2012, was misleading and incorrect."
"The Masonic misfortune of trials, suspension, and expulsion fell upon our Past Grand Master when he was also suffering under extreme personal distress with respect to a matter which involved his wife. This was a time when brothers should have come to his aid to ease the distress, rather than inflame it."

Tuesday, December 04, 2012

Check out Jason Van Dyke's regular podcast, "The Life Masonic" on the Scottish Rite website. Click here. There are interviews and philosophical discussions, along with practical advice. Twelve episodes so far.

From this month's episode description:

our guest this month is Scott Gillis. He's just a guy. He's like any other guy you'll meet in your Lodge, or your church, or your pub. But Scott has a way of telling a story. And the story is of his life so far. He never seems to find the easy way, but he's turned out pretty well. He has always found a way to triumph over the adversity in his life. And that story, to me, has a kind of casual inspiration. It's not super hero stuff, but its stuff I know I could learn from and do better with in my own life. I hope you think so too.

In a surprising and unprecedented move, the Most Worshipful Grand Master of Masons of the State of Florida, Jorge L. Aladro has effectively expelled from the Craft all Pagans, Wiccans, Gnostics, Agnostics and members of other non-Christian or pre-Christian religious belief systems. In his Ruling and Decision No. 3, dated November 26, 2012, the Grand Master issued an ultimatum to any member of the aforementioned groups: Resign from the Craft, or face trial and expulsion from Florida Freemasonry.

A mythic past. A visionary future. A legendary brotherhood.

Freemasonry is the largest, oldest and best-known gentleman's fraternity in the world. Historically, it is based on the Medieval stonemason guilds who built the great castles and cathedrals of Europe. Mythologically it is founded upon the building of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem, as told in the Old Testament of the Bible. Modern Freemasons likewise use the tools, traditions and terminology of those earlier stonemasons as allegories for building Temples in the hearts of men.

It's said that we are a secret society. We do indeed have secrets—secrets that each individual man has to discover for and about himself.

At its core, Freemasonry is simply an attempt to make the world a better place, one man at a time. For each man, it can become as simple or as complicated as he himself desires.

It's not for everybody.

Maybe it's for you.

"Brother Chris Hodapp's [blog]...is thought provoking and is often the first place on the web where new ideas and matters of interest are posted."

In 2018 Chris was awarded the Caleb B. Smith Medal of Honor by the Grand Lodge F&AM of Indiana for his "distinguished service to Freemasonry in Indiana and worldwide."

Chris Hodapp received his higher education at Indiana University, the University of Southern California, Los Angeles Valley College, California State University at Northridge, and Indiana/Purdue University at Indianapolis.

He spent twenty-three years in advertising as a commercial filmmaker for Dean Crow Productions, shooting and editing close to 1,000 regional and national commercials, music videos and feature films. He has written scripts for corporate and non-profit clients, and his voice has appeared in countless television and radio commercials.

He was the editor and a contributor in 2004-5 to "Laudable Pursuit: A 21st Century Response to Dwight Smith"by the Knights of the North, a Masonic leadership think-tank focussing on modern lodge solutions. He has written for Indianapolis Monthly, Masonic Magazine, Templar History, the Scottish Rite Journal, the Knight Templar Magazine, the Indiana Freemason , the Phylaxis, and numerous other publications.

Hodapp and Alice Von Kannon developed episode outlines for the History Channel program, Brad Meltzer's Decoded in 2010, and contributed material on conspiracies and secret societies for TruTV and the American Heroes Channel. They have both appeared on National Public Radio, the History Channel, Discovery, National Geographic, Smithsonian, and the American Heroes Channel - most recently in 2017 on America: Facts vs Fiction.

Chris and Alice live in Indianapolis with their very French poodle Wiley who has them both answering to basic commands.

M.A.T.S.O.L.

If you are a Freemason who travels anywhere, you need to download the Amity app to your smartphone. Immediately.

Instantly identify lodges in all mainstream and Prince Hall U.S. jurisdictions, Canada, and more than 50 other countries. Determine a lodge's Masonic regularity immediately, and whether your own grand lodge is in amity with theirs, all on your phone.Apart from my own books, I don't advertise products here as a rule, but this service is absolutely free of charge, created by and for Freemasons, and with the cooperation of grand lodges all around the world.

I am a Freemason and a member of both the regular, recognized Grand Lodge of Indiana F&AM and the United Grand Lodge of England. However, unless otherwise attributed, the opinions expressed in this blog are my own, or of others expressing theirs by posting comments. I do not in any way represent the official positions of my lodges or Grand Lodges, any associated organization of which I may or may not be a member, or the fraternity of Freemasonry as a whole.

Be aware that no one person may speak on behalf of Freemasonry or present their opinion as being the "official" position of the fraternity, unless it is a grand master, and then, only within his own jurisdiction. While Freemasonry is a global fraternal organization, there is no single, authoritative, administrative Masonic body or figurehead anywhere in the world.

The unauthorized appearance of content from this site, in whole or in part, in links, aggregators, forums, comments or other websites does not express or imply an endorsement by the author.

If you are a Freemason and are lifting material from this website without attribution, shame on you.

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